Star Trek: Enterprise
"Bound"
Air date: 4/15/2005
Written by Manny Coto
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
Unless a new policy has been instated, I don't believe Starfleet condones slavery." — Low-key T'Pol sarcasm
In brief: Un-good. Very, very un-good.
Manny Coto, a self-confessed Trek geek, has written what I'm sure he thinks is a "fun" homage to the Trek days of yesteryear. What he fails to recognize, however, is that this is not an episode of television that deserves to see the light of day in 2005. It's too dumb, too obvious, too boring, and too rooted in gender stereotypes. If this is an homage, it's an homage to all the things that I, for one, hoped Trek had grown out of in the past four decades.
Maybe this is a sly commentary/satire on the sexism that frequently pervaded TOS. On the other hand, maybe it's just bad, boring, juvenile TV that exploits those qualities rather than lampooning them.
The plot. Blah, blah, blah — do you even care? Because the episode certainly does not. Perfunctory barely beings to describe it. Anyone could've written this by-the-numbers storyline. The captain of an Orion ship, Harrad-Sar (William Lucking) offers a proposal to Archer as an olive branch in establishing good relations between Starfleet and the Orion Syndicate. Whether Starfleet would even entertain the idea of negotiating with openly self-described criminal slavers is an interesting question that the episode doesn't bother asking, but never mind. Harrad-Sar pitches his proposal during a Sexy Dance Number by three scantily clad Orion slave girls (Cyia Batten, Crystal Allen, Menina Fortunato). The dancing leaves Archer and his away team positively entranced. Hypnotized. Galvanized. Stupefied. Moronized. Gee, y'think these girls have a special power over men that goes beyond simply their visual sex appeal? If not, would we even have a plot here? Duh.
Harrad-Sar gives Archer the location of a planet allegedly perfect for a lucrative, joint mining operation. Archer accepts the deal. T'Pol futilely offers words of caution, but Archer has already decided, and we're on our way. Is this a trap? Was Enterprise canceled exactly when the dailies of this episode started coming in? Okay, I made that last part up.
Meanwhile, Lt. Cmdr. Kelby (Derek Magyar) has a beef with Tucker because Tucker hasn't returned to the Columbia and Kelby thinks his promotion to chief engineer is going to be voided. Judging by the way the episode plays out, I'd say his fears are pretty justified. Oh, well — maybe Kelby can be the chief engineer on the Columbia. Sort of a consolation prize for both Kelby and Captain Hernandez. Trip's transfer off the Enterprise in "The Aenar" was interesting specifically because it dealt believably with personnel issues on board a starship. The situation with Kelby here flies in the face of believable staffing issues, but we naturally must have our guy Trip back where he belongs.
Oh, wait, we were talking about "Bound." Sorry. So Harrad-Sar gives Archer the three slave girls as a gift, leading to many scenes where they slink and slither around the ship and cause distractions and disturbances because none of the men can think straight. These women, they DRIVE MEN WILD. And they drive the other women on the ship to have headaches, which is to say, one woman. Hoshi complains to Phlox while T'Pol is unaffected, being the logical Vulcan that she is. Are there even any other women on the ship?
Much of the episode is your typical Sci-Fi Sexuality Lite, which is to say neutered faux sexuality played for nervous tee-hee laughs and aimed at a TV-PG audience. It's an embarrassment. It's perhaps here that Star Trek has become most anachronistic and useless. Because it has tried to stay in the family-friendly zone while cramming false sexuality down our throats, Enterprise's take on sex has been left behind in the land of irrelevance, and nobody cares. (For Sci-Fi Sexuality Dealt With, you should watch Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica.)
Really, on even the dumbest level of the male libido, are these girls even a turn-on? I didn't think so, because all I could think of was the fact that they'd painted these poor actresses green from head to toe, and all that paint is going to turn into quease-inducing cakes of sweat and pastel grime during ... well, whatever. A game of billiards, say. Yeah.
So Archer quickly is turned useless by the power of these women to DRIVE MEN WILD. There's one scene on the bridge that I have to commend for technical reasons, simply because it's directed so vividly oddly, as if Archer were on drugs. The camera movement is somewhat refreshing and appropriate. It made me want to smoke pot, something that would be preferable to watching this episode, albeit illegal. Hell, "Bound" should be illegal. It should be charged with impersonating a TV show. Of course, the burden of proof for that charge is much higher on UPN.
Meanwhile, Kelby sabotages the engines after one of the Orion girls sexes him into doing it. Trip is fortunately on hand to beat Kelby up in engineering, but not in time. Poor Kelby; what a thankless character. Promoted to chief engineer only to be written as a complete boob who is manipulated by Mr. Johnson into sabotaging the ship so he can get beat down in public by Trip, who then takes his job back.
Why is all of this happening? Phlox explains. The Orion women have strong pheromones that DRIVE MEN WILD and make them susceptible to suggestion. Duh!
And now I'm bored, so allow me to retort. What does Marcellus Wallace look like? Are you telling me you're as useless as an asshole right here? You're not Mr. Purple. Some guy on some other job is Mr. Purple. You're Mr. Pink! What ain't no country I've heard of. Do they speak English in What? I would quote lines from "Bound," but that would require me to think about the show. Oh, wait, here you go, courtesy the Wachowski brothers and Joe Pantoliano: "F***ing dark in here." Wrong Bound, yes, but one I'd much rather watch than this.
There was one question I had and was going to rip on the script about: If these women have so much control over their men with these pheromones, why aren't they running things? But that's where the Twist comes in. It's revealed that the Orion women actually ARE running things, counter to our previous conceptions, or, preconceptions. The men are the slaves. Whoa! Clever. Of course, this power structure is based solely on the women's ability to use their sexual charms to DRIVE MEN WILD, and this twist is not going to be of much consolation to those in the audience who correctly label the episode sexist.
But then again, that requires some sort of thought and deconstruction. There isn't thought to be found here, nor philosophies worthy of deconstruction. The episode is mainly a 60-minute IQ vortex.
The thwarting of this plot centers on T'Pol and Trip, who are immune to the Orion pheromones because T'Pol is a Vulcan and Trip had sex with her. Yes. They now share some sort of telepathic link. This leads us back to the whole Trip/T'Pol question: Will They or Won't They? It looked like Will They for a brief while, and then Won't They for a long time, and now we're back on Will They. It's sort of like flipping a coin a lot of times. I'm just going to throw in the towel and pose a question about the audience: Care They or Don't They? I answer this question Don't They.
Coto meant this all in good fun, proof of which is shown at the end, where T'Pol makes a joke, and then all the other guys poke fun at the Vulcan and laugh, just like when they used to laugh at Mr. Spock, the all-purpose straight man. But like the rest of this episode, it's a massive miscalculation. The episode doesn't work because it's an anachronism that doesn't stand on its own entertainment value. It comes off looking idiotic when it's meant to look affectionate. Coto has clearly taken his love of Star Trek to a place where the audience doesn't need it to go. This is the worst episode of Enterprise in more than two years.
Next week: Back to the mirror universe, which will hopefully be far more fun than this.
Previous episode: Divergence
Next episode: In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I
Like this site? Support it by buying Jammer a coffee.
122 comments on this post
Tue, Jan 22, 2008, 9:13am (UTC -6)
How did this episode even get off the planning stage let alone written, filmed, and broadcast.
Wed, Mar 12, 2008, 10:27pm (UTC -6)
& there's nothing about this episode that even remotely approaches VOY levels of stupidity. orion slave girls? - or evil clowns from the delta quadrant?
Tue, Jul 22, 2008, 7:52am (UTC -6)
Sat, Aug 30, 2008, 5:51pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Sep 16, 2008, 5:41am (UTC -6)
Sun, Sep 28, 2008, 6:09am (UTC -6)
Thu, Jun 25, 2009, 2:28pm (UTC -6)
I'd speculate that given the show's predominant demographic - horny teenagers with raging acne and military parents - they're not likely to be too choosy about sex-objects providing they're not more than 5" adversely away from 36-24-36, nor more than 25. But for those of us who know about life, who have screwed a better grade of female, and who realise that this is STILL fiction, we ain't gonna buy it.
In my case, LITERALLY - I downloaded a copy but wouldn't pay for this junk out of the annual interest on an 8-figure account.
Wed, Aug 5, 2009, 4:13am (UTC -6)
As others have hinted, where were all the female crew members? The male engineers are fighting amongst themselves in the middle of a crisis, but you dont have enough females to sub for them? You've got 3 Orions emitting powerful pheromones that give them control over any man theyre in prolonged contact with...yet you leave TWO MEN IN CHARGE OF WATCHING THEM???
This was one of the most boring episodes of Trek I've ever watched. Not as flat out HORRIBLE as some of Voyagers greatest (s)hits, but still an hour of my life I'll never get back.
Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 8:33am (UTC -6)
Mon, Jun 28, 2010, 11:08pm (UTC -6)
I will give Enterprise one thing though, they do actually explores some of the races from TOS, when is the last time you saw an Orion or Andorian.
Mon, Dec 13, 2010, 3:13pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Dec 13, 2010, 3:19pm (UTC -6)
I always hated how in every Trek incarnation, Humans were the most frail, fragile, and susceptible to every affliction that Vulcans, Ferengi, Borg, or somesuch were somehow immune to.
If T'Pol weren't aboard, the ship would have been destroyed several times over.
Fri, Jan 7, 2011, 8:05pm (UTC -6)
Anyway, what I really wanted to say is this; Jammer, thanks for the many uses of the phrase "DRIVE MEN WILD" in this review. Haha, your review was the best part of this episode for me!
Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 6:45pm (UTC -6)
This was not a one-star episode. Sure, it didn't have much going on plot-wise and was therefore slow-paced. And sure, if there was some attempt at ironic commentary on Trek's old-fashioned sexism, I missed it. But this was hardly painful to watch or embarrassing for the actors. "Bound" deserves at least the same 1.5 stars that Jammer gave "Mudd's Women" (though as I noted in my comment to "The Aenar," star ratings aren't equal between series).
Sat, Feb 4, 2012, 5:03pm (UTC -6)
As I watched the rest of the season I was genuinely sad that the show was cancelled as it seemed to be finding its niche and then I saw this written by the show runner and was kinda glad that there will be no more insults like this.
Fri, Jun 1, 2012, 2:47pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Jun 30, 2012, 7:56pm (UTC -6)
Archer is being held captive.
Someone has to leave a place before a dangerous phenomenon will kill him, but he can't but at second .00001 he just makes it.
People are doing weird because there's radiation or some sort of airborne substance.
Some hostile alien enters Enterprise and presses some computer buttons, rendering the crew instantly unable to "lock him out" or "override him".
Enterprise encounters a ship with a shield that is impenetrable for their weapons.
From those cliché perspectives a somewhat stupid episode where the men turn out to be the slaves of their women has some surprisingly redeeming qualities.
Thu, Jul 5, 2012, 4:22pm (UTC -6)
I loved the episode - one of the most enjoyable ones. 4 stars.
Tue, Jul 31, 2012, 5:12am (UTC -6)
Wed, Aug 8, 2012, 12:02pm (UTC -6)
But just thinking back to Voyager....not even half of that series was as entertaining as this episode. That's a sad realization.
Tue, Sep 25, 2012, 9:19pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Nov 1, 2012, 6:49pm (UTC -6)
Now the Trip and T'Pol connection is so obvious but at least it is fun seeing Trip try to control his actions even better than a Vulcan.
Phlox is definitely my favorite character on Enterprise.
Sat, Dec 22, 2012, 5:05pm (UTC -6)
But I suppose it's a point that they should've just done a porn spinoff called Star Trek: The Next Penetration or something
In terms of Trip+T'Pol, AT LAST. Can we just marry them off and get it over with now? :P
(I'll admit, I d'awwed. A bit.)
LOVED the "it's the women who own the men" twist. Very life-like, very believable, and I wonder if they're related to cats.
I do agree with Curtis's point about there not being any gay people in the future in Trek. Or at least, only in the mirror universe that will no doubt show plenty of lesbianism next episode, if DS9 is to go by. Whenever there was a hint of it, it had a "reason" like Dax's previous male host, rather than being a sexual preference. It's a shame that a show originally hailed (hur hur... hailed...) for making taboos of the time like women and other races in positions of power seem as normal as they should be, rarely even touched on alternative sexual preferences.
Now the mirror universe next. I thought that was spawned from a TOS episode. Whatever. I hope it doesn't suck as much as half the DS9 ones did :P
Tue, Jan 8, 2013, 5:35pm (UTC -6)
The T'Pol/Trip immunity thing was laugh-out-loud stupid. So mating with T'Pol makes you immune? She should have mated with all the men on board, then. There has to be a "needs of the many" joke in there somewhere.
Wed, Mar 6, 2013, 12:28am (UTC -6)
I agree with the one star, although I thought the scene between Trip and T'Pol toward the end was worthwhile, and I did enjoy the "everybody laugh at the Vulcan" bit at the end, which was a far more sincere tribute to TOS than anything else in the show.
Another idea: maybe Orion males could have the same intoxicating effect on women that the females have on men. I would have enjoyed it if at least one of the three "gifts" had been an Orion guy who makes all the women aboard Enterprise go crazy while all the men abaord Enterprise become stupidly jealous. It could have been played for laughs as sort of a "Naked Time" episode. Although I suppose ultimately the whole concept of Orion slave people should have perhaps been left to TOS.
Thu, Apr 25, 2013, 8:24pm (UTC -6)
Who wants deep and dramatic in every ep? This was sheer green entertainment!
Thu, Apr 25, 2013, 8:50pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Jun 1, 2013, 8:07pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 2:59pm (UTC -6)
It was bringing old TOS series back to life and exploring its species a bit more. And TOS was like that... silly faux sexuality... this was putting a more modern spin on it (and yes, I realise it is still full of gender stereotypes etc., but as I said, them's the roots of old-style trek.
It gave the Orion sex slaves a bit more depth than the 2D way they had been presented in TOS (by saying the men are actually the slaves), and yes, I do think it was meant to be at least a bit tongue in cheek.
I do think that Jammer is once again being unfair on ENT here, because if it had been Jadzia Dax in that sort of a role I'm fairly sure he wouldn't have protested...
Sun, Sep 22, 2013, 7:40pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Oct 9, 2013, 4:05pm (UTC -6)
Perhaps some people here look too deep into it and are unable to just sit back and enjoy a good 45 minutes of undemanding, harmless, entertaining nonsense.
Sun, Nov 3, 2013, 9:30am (UTC -6)
If you don't understand why it's sexist, how about:
> These women "in control" not because of their capacities (intelligence, leadership...) like men, but just because of pheromones and sexual attractivity
> Men are all bumbling idiots who have no control over their emotions (both offensive to men AND legitimizing things like rape)
> These are supposedly in control, but Orion is controlled by the men (a male captain, male slave owners...). Not matter that in the slave market women were being sold just like the other slaves. Hows that for power.
Once again, we've yet to see any species where men are not dominant. And apart from the Cpt of the Columbia, I haven't seen any female captain in ANY of the species we've encountered.
I like Star Trek, I really do, but sometimes these kinds of episodes come along and I'm reminded I'm watching a show made by and for stupid teenage boys, and I remember why I'm a bit ashamed to say I like Star Trek in public
Thu, Nov 28, 2013, 8:11pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 6:49am (UTC -6)
Wed, Feb 19, 2014, 4:41pm (UTC -6)
Slavery=BAD!
Objectification of Women=BAD!
Men who let their libido run away with them when hot women are around=BAD!
And, as a bonus: No (obviously) gay characters on the Enterprise=BAD!
So therefore:
An episode that doesn't righteously condemn all of the above and instead approaches Orion culture on its own terms…OH MY GOD THIS IS SO HORRIBLY BAD IT CAN'T POSSIBLY HAVE ANY MERIT WHATSOEVER!!! THE OUTRAGE!!!! THE OUTRAGE!!! IT'S OUTRAGEOUS, I TELL YOU!!!!!!
Gnashing of teeth ensues.
Having said all that, while I liked the episode and found it entertaining, it wasn't the best Star Trek (in all of its incarnations) has to offer. I'd give it a solid three stars out of five. By no means was it as bad as it's made out to be. It did recycle various concepts from Star Trek's past, so it wasn't groundbreaking. But as an hour of entertainment I enjoyed it.
Rather than go further into an essay on the episode, I'll just list some bullet points of my thoughts on the episode and the review:
• The dance at the beginning was VERY WELL done. The choreography, the editing, etc. More than just "hot chicks jiggling around"
• That Trip would be immune to the pheromone effect of the Orion girls due to his hookup with T'Pol was a plot contrivance, but one steeped in the tradition of Star Trek
• Given that it is a pheromone effect clouding the males' judgement, would it not stand to reason that even gay male characters would be affected on some level? Not in a come back to the Home team kind of way, but at least some degree of confusion? That would explain why simply assigning a gay character to chaperone them wouldn't have worked. Even a headache like the other women.
• I was confused by the Orions' dastardly plan; was it really necessary to implant the women on the Enterprise when they had Archer on their ship and at their mercy at the beginning of the episode? Couldn't he have simply taken him hostage and/or took off to the Klingon Empire to turn him over to them? But then again getting the Orion women on board and wreaking havoc was the entire point of the episode, so, nevermind ;-)
• One of the commentators above made a very valid point about how men will fall over themselves when a really hot woman appears, even without pheromones affecting them. It's human nature. Deal with it.
• I totally bought T'Pol's and Trip's relationship drama; the two actors have legitimate chemistry and Jolene Blaylock's acting vastly improved over the course of the series (some of her season one acting was just flat as a board). It's too bad they didn't have her with long hair for the duration of the series instead of just the Mirror Universe…but that's just my sexist male libido talking, right? DOH!
Wed, Feb 19, 2014, 4:44pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Feb 19, 2014, 10:56pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Mar 7, 2014, 9:32pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Apr 25, 2014, 10:22pm (UTC -6)
Sun, May 25, 2014, 11:16pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Jun 9, 2014, 12:43pm (UTC -6)
We learn that there is more than just a human relationship between T'Pol and Trip. (wow, so THAT's how Vulcans keep their husbands :-))
We also now know who runs the show in the Orion Syndicate.
I actually thought this was better than the Orions in TOS Trek. The opening dance was simply outstanding and better than the dance in 'The Menagerie'.
Performance call out... Cyia Batten as Navaar was outstanding. She's played many Star Trek characters very well.
(yes, all 3 were drop dead gorgeous)
4 out of 5 stars for Trek having some fun again.
Mon, Jun 9, 2014, 7:46pm (UTC -6)
How'd this get one star?
Fri, Jul 18, 2014, 2:28pm (UTC -6)
Learning the Orion slave women are the real leaders and masters in their society. It makes a TON of sense. Because having slave women act like they're just thrilled to be owned as sex objects is frankly ridiculous, and a singularly stupid male wet dream.
Trip and T'Pol are baaaack. Sort of. So happy to see it. I had a strong hunch Trip would be unaffected by the pheromones somehow because of T'Pol. Guess I'm a romantic -- I love their scenes together, and the gradual development of their relationship through the years, while our erstwhile reviewer clearly does not, despite romances on other Trek shows.
Now we know why and how the arranged marriages on Vulcan work. No wonder they keep talking about growing to have a strong bond -- the husbands and wives are in each other's heads!
Also loved the double meaning in the episode title -- bonded romantically and bonded as slaves.
Kelby feeling threatened by Trip's return is perfectly natural and makes a lot of sense. Of course he'd feel that way, and he's human, so it would be hard to hide. But Trip is right -- he knows the engines inside and out like no one else.
Yay! Trip is back on Enterprise for good, and T'Pol admitted she wanted him there.
Sat, Oct 18, 2014, 4:57am (UTC -6)
Captain scores the green chicks? Tick. Sexist essentialism. Tick. Women as property. Tick. Men as insatible slaves to desire. Tick. This might have been great fun if it was made two decades earlier. But in those two decades prior to this, popuar culture had started actually asking women how they feel and we learned that this is no way to treat women.
I understand Orion slave women are part of Star Trek lore, but that could have been the plot point to a far more interesting episode about gender politics, objectification and the sex trade.
Instead we got this. Honestly, it felt like cowardice from the writers, or more likely the cigar chomping studio execs demanding "MORE SAUCY".
Bah. One star.
Tue, Feb 17, 2015, 5:59pm (UTC -6)
With so few episodes left in the series, it's quite a shame they wasted one on this stuff.
Sun, Mar 22, 2015, 3:13pm (UTC -6)
Jammer doesn't ship
T'Pol + Trip. ;-)
As for the episode, meh. Kind of slow and predictable. I was really hoping for Hoshi and T'Pol to team up and take down the Orion girls on the bridge near the end there. A little Vulcan nerve pinch and an open can of Hoshi-whoop-ass would have gone well together. On the positive side:
-The mention of the Gorn at the start of the dance scene ("the less said about the Gorn the better" ... hahahhahhaa!! )
-T'Pol and Trip together again!!! Yay!!!
-Fun with Vulcans tribute to TOS at the end
-The interesting reveal on Orion society
2.5* from this Cap.
Fri, Apr 3, 2015, 5:22pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Aug 4, 2015, 12:34am (UTC -6)
But the real message here is for men...and it is...Don't let women control you with their sex or you will be made a slave. You know, child support, community property, the big "D" that sort of thing. It shows us the wrong way for a man to have a relationship with a woman with Kelby's pleading, "Don't go" And then the woman telling him what he has to do to keep her.
Think I'm wrong? Well, just look at the last scene with Trip and Tpol. Trip has already asked to be returned to Enterprise but doesn't tell TPol. He attempts to get TPol to admit that she want's him back. When her pride initially prevents her from doing so Trip walks away only to have TPol follow him and plant a very passionant kiss on his lips in order to make it clear what she wants. Only then does Trip tell her that he already asked Archer for his old job back.
So we have two examples of how to deal with women. The weak way with Kelby begging the girl not to go. And the strong way with Trip walking away and allowing TPol to follow. I could have said the wrong way and the right way instead of the weak way and the strong way but you get the idea.
So this is really a primer on how men should treat women. Be weak and get treated like shit or be strong and get treated right. I'd bet a weeks pay it was written by men who have been through a divorce.
I suspect my take on this episode might infuriate a few feminist but what the hell. Most feminist I've met are pissed at the world from the get go and nothing I can say can change that little fact. And if I am accused of being a male chauvinist pig(what ever that means) I can only reply with, "Oink"
But, I'm in my fifties, I quit counting how many time I have crossed the Pacific Ocean when I got to fifty times and I have lived in many countries and experienced many cultures. And I have quite literally had more alien tail than Captain Kirk. And from experience I can say if you go in weak you will end up getting the shitty end of the stick every damn time. If you go in strong you won't win every time but your odds go up considerably.
And finally I will say again, The message of this episode is just so obvious it's hard to see how anyone could miss it.
Sat, Aug 15, 2015, 3:09pm (UTC -6)
It will be interesting (but I probably won't be around) if this blog is still active in another 20 years to see if some of those same posters have changed their minds. I hope, for their sakes, they have.
Sun, Aug 16, 2015, 2:01pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Aug 23, 2015, 1:24pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Oct 5, 2015, 4:12pm (UTC -6)
Men are from Mars etc
It seems this episode is pulling out some of the commonly held views in the eternal battle of the sexes.
The comments are very interesting and much thought has bee given to them but the genesis of such an intriguing discussion is ,sadly, a really mediocre episode.
Sat, Oct 10, 2015, 12:17am (UTC -6)
Sun, Oct 11, 2015, 6:49pm (UTC -6)
I also recall a black rapper that was being interviewed on tv. The female interviewer was asking him why so much of his song lyrics seemed to indicate his lack of respect for women. His response was that he lacked respect for women because while men had sex for pleasure women have it for financial gain. Regrettably, I also find this true.
Sat, Feb 20, 2016, 3:21am (UTC -6)
Sat, Feb 20, 2016, 9:54am (UTC -6)
I thought the funniest moments were Phlox being agitated and injecting himself and Trip goofily matter-of-fact blasting Reed, Mayweather and Archer.
Sun, Feb 21, 2016, 11:24pm (UTC -6)
Sun, May 15, 2016, 4:04pm (UTC -6)
The one running story addressed here is the on again-off again Trip/T'Pol romance - and yes, it pleased me that they are back together. It just seems like a nice story, and we don't always get a lot of those. 2 stars.
Mon, Jul 4, 2016, 10:45pm (UTC -6)
As for the episode itself: It's awful. I can overlook the sexism and the plot itself isn't terrible, but the entire episode is so d*** embarassing to watch. I'm not sure why, but it felt far more embarassing than, say, TOS's "Mudd's Women" or even ENT's "Bounty". In short, something in this specific episode affected me in a very wrong sort of way. Perhaps I'm allergic to Orion pheromones or something...
I did like the final scene with T'Pol's joke, though. A very nice homage to TOS, complete with a musical cue which was just perfect for that scene.
Mon, Sep 19, 2016, 12:07am (UTC -6)
Mon, Sep 19, 2016, 10:01am (UTC -6)
Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 2:50am (UTC -6)
'How to deal with women'....haha.
Incredible stuff.
Fri, Jan 13, 2017, 9:08am (UTC -6)
Mon, Jan 23, 2017, 1:24pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Feb 22, 2017, 4:43am (UTC -6)
Sun, Mar 26, 2017, 7:04pm (UTC -6)
Hey cupcake. Did the fact that I mentioned that I have quite literally had more alien tail than Captain Kirk ruffle your feminist sensibilities? I have piloted a plane to the edge of the atmosphere in my professional life and I have been 300 ft down in the Pacific ocean with nothing more than a 3 mil wetsuit and a bottle of tri-mix to sustain me in my private life. I did that last one just for kicks. In either situation one tiny mistake can kill you. Funny thing was I have never encountered any feminist at either place. Just men.
Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 3:12am (UTC -6)
Not as completely terrible as 'Bounty', but most of the way there. Perhaps this idea could have worked if the writer had not been so determined to steer us all the way down the lite and silly path...
Thu, Aug 17, 2017, 3:40am (UTC -6)
Sat, Aug 26, 2017, 10:36am (UTC -6)
For those commentators above who found the Orion ladies unappealing and can't work out what the crew found so attractive blah blah blah can I just point out it was actually totally irrelevant what they looked like. It was the pheremones they were releasing which were affecting everyone except Trip and T'pol.
Fri, Sep 1, 2017, 2:57pm (UTC -6)
It is en episode they you remember either because you find it is silly and sexistic or you like because you are a silly sexist ;-)
Thu, Oct 12, 2017, 3:10pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Oct 23, 2017, 3:40pm (UTC -6)
I don't see it as sexist at all. They are Orion slave girls. That's what they do, act sexy. May as well say the show is dog-ist(?) because Porthos acts like a dog.
And I didn't see anyone throwing the term sexist around every time Trip or Mayweather or Archer took off their shirt. How about the Ferengi episode where Trip was in his underwear for about 1/2 of it? Not one mention of sexism in those comments. I never understood why showing a woman half naked is supposedly sexist, but showing a man half naked isn't. And people like looking at attractive people, so what's the big deal? Also they were, you know...aliens, with an alien culture, and if they run around in bikinis all the time, who am I to judge?
@Just another fan
'...I find it interesting that folks on this board cannot agree on whether the episode is sexist or not. Here's a thought. It's pretty easy to tell whether something is racist. So try this test on this episode: Imagine all the female characters are black and all the male characters are white. Do you have the same reaction?'
Like I said, I didn't think it was sexist. BTW, are they still supposed to be aliens in your scenario? Anyway, why would it be racist for black people to act all sexy and have some sort of pheromones that make white people swoon over them? How about if all the women were Mexican and all the men were Japanese? Is that still racist to you? Or, say...the women were green and the men were white (except one)? Does that make it racist?
And what if the Orions had been men and all the women (and yes, there are more than just Hoshi on board) went weak in the knees, and the men all got headaches and whatever? Is that still sexist?
Any time one person or small group of people is depicted in a certain way, doesn't automatically make it '-ist'. Racist, sexist, religionist, ageist, blah blah blah. In this episode, there were three alien women acting sexy. That doesn't suddenly imply that anyone thinks all women act that way. Or with the 'what if they were black people and white people' the same thing applies. That doesn't suddenly imply that anyone thinks all black people would act that way.
Assuming a single person or small group of people represents an entire race, or sex, or religion, etc. is wrong. So saying this episode is sexist, because a few women act sexy, is no different than watching an episode of 'Law and Order' or 'CSI' and saying it's racist because the criminal in it happened to be black in that episode. Anytime any character that is black or gay or a woman or whatever they happen to be, is allegedly portrayed in a negative way, it's not suddenly racist or homophobic or sexist. People who think it is, are the ones who perpetuate all the bad stereotypes.
Say I'm watching the episode of 'Law and Order' I mentioned above where the criminal turns out to be black. I think to myself that guy is a bad guy. It doesn't matter if he's black or white or green. He killed that other dude, so he's a bad guy. But then the person I'm watching it with says 'I knew they would do that! They think all blacks are criminals! That's racist!'. Well guess who is actually the racist? Me, who thought he was a bad guy because he murdered someone? Or the person who brings up the fact that he was black and equates that with criminal behaviour? They probably aren't even aware of what they did, and their intention might be good, but they are the ones thinking racist thoughts, not me. At least not until they brought it up. So who actually perpetuates all this racism, sexism, etc.? Hmmmmm....
Where was I? Oh yeah. 2 stars.
Fri, Dec 1, 2017, 6:31pm (UTC -6)
The one who went after Archer seems familiar. Anyone else?
Sat, Dec 2, 2017, 1:22am (UTC -6)
Fri, Jan 19, 2018, 9:30pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 1:55am (UTC -6)
Episode : 3 stars.
Its sad, when bias becomes so obvious.
Go watch some 2 star Dabo girls episodes or the Lyta and Mookie marriage ....
Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 10:13pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Jan 28, 2018, 4:51pm (UTC -6)
But the last 1/3 was actually fine. The T'Pol/Trip scenes work well, and the revelation at the end was good.
It's strange. I'm used to stuff that starts out well but then ends in a predictable and uninteresting way. I'm unsure how to grade it. 1.5 stars? 2 stars?
Fri, Mar 30, 2018, 10:09pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Apr 6, 2018, 4:38pm (UTC -6)
If one of the revelations is that it's really the Orion men who are slaves, then what are these women getting out of it? Or do they just live for seducing men and being bought and sold? Anyhow that was just a line from the Orion pirate so who knows what to make of it. And T'Pol at the end with her comment (re. women) failed to achieve the Spock-like wit at end of the occasional TOS episode.
First of all, Archer's initial judgment is idiotic -- agreeing to go to the Orion pirate's ship given their prior experience/enslavement. But once he's there and falls under the women's spell then basically all hell breaks loose. And it takes an awfully long time for Trip/T'Pol to mount any kind of resistance -- why was T'Pol so docile here?? She's organized mutinies before. I think some folks blame TOS for sexism but this episode was worse for that than anything in TOS.
As for the T'Pol/Trip subplot -- the episode brings them closer. I think T'Pol's character wavers in its Vulcan-ness, however. This was the more interesting part of the episode albeit not that interesting in absolute terms. Trip had a good line about the "psychic bond" with T'Pol which prevented him from falling under influence of the Orion women.
1 star for "Bound" -- very simplistic and quite stupid plot, not a lot of thought went into this episode and it's one of the worst episodes of ENT S4. At least as far as the Federation is concerned, the Orion's have been fully understood -- albeit at almost great cost. It all goes back to a dumb Archer decision in the first place and there have been enough ENT episodes where this is the case and that's a real drag on the series.
Mon, Jun 4, 2018, 9:36pm (UTC -6)
A) Given that the effect is supposed to be produced by a highly potent pheromone, it may well effect someone who's gay in the same way, or
B) It might have made any gay men listless and unproductive and any gay women hyperaroused and delusional.
We never saw either on screen, but we never saw either confirmed to not be the case.
Sun, Jul 1, 2018, 8:44am (UTC -6)
I'd have given it 2 stars. All the time the green women spent seducing the men was rather tedious, but I found the idea of the women enslaving the men interesting (though it does beg the question of why they are still referred to as "slave girls" in the DS9 era), and the telepathic link between Trip and T'Pol explained why they had the same dream... I had been wondering that.
Lighten up, people.
Mon, Oct 8, 2018, 1:14pm (UTC -6)
Yes it's better than TATV but that's an extremely low bar to pass. It's full of plot holes Travis can drive a ship through. To respond to Rahul, I think T'Pol isn't focused on mounting resistance because she's too depressed about Trip. Understandable but what really got me was that the female MACO's from season 3 seemed to disappear. They couldn't find any women to guard the Orions? And why would Trip come back so fast? Yes he got the upper hand in the end but the fact that he was so distraught when he left Enterprise kind of undercuts the message. If I moved out to break up with my boyfriend, I would have more misgivings about coming back no matter how much I miss home and the old neighborhood. I'm a die-hard Trip/T'Pol shipper who's the first to want them back together but the writers gave them an easy fix. Plus that reduced Hernandez to a dues ex machina for them.
Sat, Nov 3, 2018, 5:49pm (UTC -6)
Smoking weed is preferable to watching ANY episode of Star Trek.
Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 5:45pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 5:50pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 1:49pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Aug 20, 2019, 2:37pm (UTC -6)
Reading the review after watching such an episode is a delight.
What now, 1 1/2 star enterprise episodes or 1 star voyager...
hmmm I dislike enterprise more and also haven't seen all of the episodes.
Enterprise it is.
Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 12:06am (UTC -6)
But Holy Moly !!!! It's amazing what a chore it is to do even do a rerun of Enterprise. I began this rerun 2018 summer and it has been struggle to get myself motivated to watch an episode here and there. Easily the worst Trek of the franchise (relatively speaking of course, I still watched every episode when it originally aired, gladly). I couldn't even get my energy up to comment (not sure if I did or not). Even seasons 3 and 4, they are fine seasons in that they pick up the storylines, the pace, and thankfully get into more serialized story telling, but even those two seasons are above average and nothing wrong compared to the rest of the franchise.
Anyhow, five episodes left, I believe... I think I'll make it to the end by next month!
Tue, Apr 21, 2020, 2:00am (UTC -6)
Tue, May 19, 2020, 11:11am (UTC -6)
I did not buy the story tweak about suddenly men being the slaves and women being the owners/handlers.
Why? Because we see female Orions being held in cages and sold at auctions (in this very series, earlier episode). Not just sold to male Orions but to alien customers. So how are women supposed to rule the show if they get handed out to whoever is willing to pay the price and takes them to whereever. I don't see how this is either fine for them nor how they could possibly dominate, scattered across the known universe and subdued in alien cultures. It's a plain slave fate, and nothing can be altered storywise to that later without looking ridiculous.
Wed, May 20, 2020, 8:24am (UTC -6)
Very simply... we see how they affected the crew of the Enterprise, it's clear their tactic. The sell them off, and they bring the syndicate ships, more slaves, goods, etc.
Mon, May 25, 2020, 12:37pm (UTC -6)
Mon, May 25, 2020, 12:42pm (UTC -6)
Mon, May 25, 2020, 12:44pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Jun 27, 2020, 10:39pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 4:25pm (UTC -6)
But like DS9’s Profit and Lace, it isn’t nearly the worst Trek outing. Despite its many failings, it still has a light, comedic bent that makes it less painful. Some of the banter is fun and it was a treat hearing about the Gorn. But compared to TNG’s deeply problematic forays to planets of both Native Americans and Africans or Voyager’s butchering of both evolution and warp drive that sees Janeway and Tom mating as lizards, this was at least semi-watchable. Not great. Not good. But not mindnumblingly boring or canon-rending.
Wed, Oct 28, 2020, 4:32pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 5:57pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 7:35pm (UTC -6)
https://youtu.be/Apuye0JcWqM
@kapages, yes, I wrote about @Jammer's obvious bias against episodes like this - going all the way back to "Mudd's Women" - in my review of that episode.
I can't believe we get more wisdom on this topic from Lady Ga Ga.
https://youtu.be/25ilfAuHvlY
Just dance!!!
Sat, Jan 2, 2021, 2:38am (UTC -6)
I expected Archer to show a bit more discomfort when the Orion guy explicitly mentions buying them. Also for a little more caution considering the last time he took in a sex slave in Season 3, they turned out to be a saboteur, but Enterprise continues to let anyone just wander into the engine room. I was ready to award some point when they stuffed them into decon1 when the truth came out, but rescinded rhem when the immediatlely left 2 men to guard them. I held out faint hope for a subversion of the obvious escape by one of the guards saying something like "I don't think my husband back home would approve". Was also expecting T'pol to just shoot the women when they entered the bridge instead of standing there frowning until Trip comes in to shoot everyone else. Finally, not buying the paper thin excuse they try to trot out about the women really being in charge. That bit of tell contradicts a lot of show.
Looking back at the time capsule of these comments, it's a surprising pit of not even trying to hide it blatant misogyny.
Tue, Feb 9, 2021, 6:39pm (UTC -6)
There was something funny about how ridiculous it was, though. That exercise scene had me dying. “Oh, yeah, these WOMEN! They’re so HOT, I’m full of TESTOSTERONE! I need to work it out with my MANLY STRENGTH!!! Pumping iron with my MAN MUSCLES!”
It’s weird that that was the most I think I’ve seen Travis act all season. THIS is when you break out your acting muscles? Probably because they finally had him doing something, poor guy.
Tue, Feb 9, 2021, 7:08pm (UTC -6)
Sun, May 2, 2021, 12:19am (UTC -6)
Mon, May 3, 2021, 9:01pm (UTC -6)
/sarcasm
Sorry, couldn't resist making a little tribute to #1 stud Greg upthread. As someone who loves TOS and has mastered the art of turning off my brain, this episode is trash. Nice try, but you're not running anyone's society if you're being sold off in cages.
Tue, May 4, 2021, 2:43am (UTC -6)
This is the "I like to see slave women in green body paint but I don't want to feel bad about it"episode. It is more like a deep dive into the psyche of some pervy men. That Jammer is called woke here in the comments is pretty hilarious. :D
Tue, May 4, 2021, 7:43am (UTC -6)
It's tragic, how good things tend to get completely butchered the moment they become "cool", isn't it?
Tue, May 4, 2021, 8:46am (UTC -6)
"thought I'd refresh my memory on what Jammer thought of this episode -though I shouldn't have bothered. He was woke before woke was cool. "
"It's tragic, how good things tend to get completely butchered the moment they become "cool", isn't it?"
If you by cool mean so popular that they become financially beneficial then I wholeheartedly agree.
Tue, May 4, 2021, 10:27am (UTC -6)
The concept behind the Orions is what it is: you can choose to either be offended by them or laugh at how silly it all is. Yes, it's a dumb puerile fantasy straight out of a porno, so what do you do with it? There's nothing really to analyze.
I think the real disconnect here is that mid-period Trek is usually supposed to be taken seriously and these goofy sitcom-like episodes are jarring. Case in point: the reaction to "Precious Cargo" or Ferengi episodes.
In TOS, it's way easier to accept the premise and laugh at this stuff because that show already has campy elements. (I'd argue that's part of that show's appeal.)
Anyways, I found this episode somewhat amusing yet dumb in its slavish homage to the TOS ethos (including the unintentional camp). It passed the time, then I went about my day and never gave it another thought.
Tue, May 4, 2021, 10:44am (UTC -6)
I mean, if we try to take it as a negative statement, how would it read? "Jammer is not a chauvinist and he is against objectifying women as sex objects. Wow, what a scumbag"?
"If you by cool mean so popular that they become financially beneficial then I wholeheartedly agree."
Not exactly what I had in mind, though I guess you could say that "do what society expects of you or you'll be fired/cancelled/terrorized/abused" can be seen as "financially beneficial". ;-)
Tue, May 4, 2021, 12:11pm (UTC -6)
non-comedy writers trying to make comedy with non-comedy actors. What could go wrong...
@Omicron
"Not exactly what I had in mind,"
I know. I tried to steer you away from culture war stuff. :)
Thu, May 20, 2021, 1:58pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Jun 26, 2021, 5:36pm (UTC -6)
There are a lot of interesting stories that could have been told with a story of sexual pheromones overwhelming the male crew if the writers had been willing to subvert expectations a little more, and if they'd been more willing to allow the female cast members to step up and be the heroes while the men were reduced to helplessness in the background . . . and if, you know, there'd been more female cast members to begin with than just Hoshi & T'Pol! But there are lots of ways this premise could have been used for inciteful (and insightful) commentary on contemporary gender issues, in the best tradition of Star Trek, if the writers had been brave enough. And they could have done it while still giving the network the titillation it wanted. That little reveal at the end that the men are actually the slaves doesn't cut it, it's mostly played for laughs.
Maybe I'm more tolerant of a bad episode that's Trying Something (an homage to certain style of TOS episode with a subversive ending) when it's not a bad episode that isn't Trying Something--an episode that's just plain bad--and when it comes in the middle of a string of rather good episodes in a very strong season (only three episodes in season four so far that don't pass the "good enough to be made" test: Stormfront I & II, and Daedalus).
Thu, Jul 8, 2021, 7:48am (UTC -6)
The "Trip transfers to Columbia" subplot needed to be a lot longer than three episodes in order to be believable, as well. If I were Captain Hernandez, I'd have declined his transfer request straight off - it's unreasonable to expect an organisation like Starfleet to bow to every whim of its officers, especially if it would require a reorganisation of key personnel on two ships. Kelby is right to be aggrieved!
Mon, Aug 30, 2021, 10:14am (UTC -6)
Wed, Apr 27, 2022, 4:35pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Apr 28, 2022, 12:27am (UTC -6)
This episode was utter garbage.
Tue, Jun 28, 2022, 11:42pm (UTC -6)
I know you left the comment over a year ago, I'm just seeing it now. "The Trip transfers to Columbia subplot needed to be a lot longer to be believable"
Agreed. I'm sure the writers do as well. For all we know their intention was to make it longer. Then they learned their show was being cancelled, and had to get him back on board so they could wrap up the series.
Sat, Oct 22, 2022, 9:45pm (UTC -6)
The male antagonist in "Bound" with the very Sumerian sounding name Harrad-sar (arad/ardu+ sar, translates loosely as "servant who writes") was played by William Lucking (who passed away about a year ago). He was very effective, as were the Orion women, who came across as serious adversaries of the fabled succubus variety. In the final bridge scene, they become as dangerous as Dracula's wives.
* I noted that the planet containing the magnesite deposits was graphically drawn using a map of the eastern Aegean as a guide. The islands of Lesbos and Chios are clearly visible in the battle scenes shown late in the episode.
Mon, Oct 2, 2023, 10:37pm (UTC -6)
1. I don't know why they think all these green gorn reptilian looking females are "attractive". Those pheromones must really put one out of their mind!
2. Why do these alien biochemicals always work on humans? Are the physiologies that similar? I mean we don't get attracted to non-human animals just because they release mating scents and pheromone signals. Yeah yeah they are humanoid blah blah but please.
3. The twist at the end actually did fool me, but how many of these cliche themed episodes do we need?
Thu, Oct 5, 2023, 8:50pm (UTC -6)
Super fun, I howled. Horny Archer is funny lol.
Ignore the haters, turn off your brain and have a laff!
Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 4:09pm (UTC -6)
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